


Goodbyes Are Never Easy

by aislingdoheanta



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: 3x12 - Freeform, Episode Related, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-17
Updated: 2014-05-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 10:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1646126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aislingdoheanta/pseuds/aislingdoheanta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Ian tells Mickey he’s leaving, he has an overdue talk with his best friend before saying goodbye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbyes Are Never Easy

**Author's Note:**

> I wish there was more Mandy & Ian. And just more Mandy. 
> 
> Originally posted on my [tumblr ](http://saras-almanac.tumblr.com/post/84619650047/fic-a-day-in-may-day-three)

Ian sat on the steps of the Milkovich house feeling completely numb all over. He hadn’t expected to say goodbye to Mickey, not like this anyway. Mickey made his choice by going through with that fucking wedding, so Ian hadn’t owed him anything. But of course, the universe wanted to kick him while he was down, so Mickey was home when Ian had stopped to say goodbye to Mandy.

But he wasn’t going to think of that now. He came here to talk to Mandy, not mope over her stupid brother.

“Hey,” Mandy said quietly as she shut the door behind him.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes as she settled down next to him.  Ian did put his arm around her hoping her presence would offer him the comfort he was desperately searching for.

“You really leaving?” Mandy asked staring straight ahead.

Ian sighed. “You heard that?”

Mandy nudged him. “It’s a small house, Ian. You were right outside my door.”

“Sorry,” Ian mumbled.

Mandy shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s not like that’s the worst thing to overhear in this house.” She pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

Ian took it when she offered it to him. “Thanks.”

“So…Mickey’s the guy you’ve been hanging around with?” Mandy asked.

Ian laughed humorlessly. “More like we fucked a few times.”

“But you thought it was more than that?” Mandy asked.

“Yeah,” he admitted quietly as he looked down. “I was stupid.”

“A little,” Mandy told him grinning. “I mean, it’s fucking Mickey. He’s a grade a douche on a good day. That actually attractive to you?”

Ian shrugged. “He was…different with me. Happy almost. At least I thought he was.”

Mandy twirled the cigarette in her hand. “A few weeks ago you thought a boy was into you. That Mickey?”

Ian nodded, taking a drag from the cigarette.

“I take it he wasn’t,” Mandy said gently as she took the offered cigarette.

Ian  rubbed uselessly at his hair. “I know that he was. I _know_ he cared about me.”  Ian stood up and began pacing. “I mean, I don’t _know_ know. It’s fucking Mickey. But you can’t…he can’t.” Ian sighed. “He couldn’t have faked it all.”

Mandy smiled sadly at Ian and stubbed out the cigarette they had let burn down. “So…what happened?”

Ian shrugged. “Some shit went down and then next thing I knew he was fucking getting married.”

“Fuck Ian.” Mandy said. She grabbed his hand and pulled him down beside her. “Why the fuck would you even come to the wedding?”

Ian shrugged. “I just…thought it would be easier to deal with if I saw it I guess.”

Mandy eyed him before smirking. “Did you guys fuck before his wedding?”

Ian smiled and let out a breath. “Yeah. Right after I begged him not to go through with it.”

“Jesus. That wedding was a train wreck from start to finish,” Mandy mumbled lighting another cigarette.

“Tell me about it.”

“And I thought you getting drunk and yelling about how the guy you’ve been fucking married someone else was the craziest thing to happen,” Mandy told him laughing.

“Fuck! I forgot abou that.” Ian turned to her, his eyes frantically searching her face. “Anyone else hear?”

Mandy shrugged. “There were a few people left but they were all worse than you, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Fuck, just…don’t tell anyone else, okay?” Ian begged.

“I won’t. It’s no one’s fucking business anyway.” Mandy passed him the cigarette and ran a hand through her hair.  “How long?”

“How long what?” Ian asked.

“Don’t be a fucking prick!” Mandy said as she hit his arm. “How long were you two together?”

“We weren’t really together,” Ian said.

“Fine, whatever. How long have you been fucking?” Mandy asked.

“Remember when Mickey got shot at the Kash and Grab?” Ian asked.

Mandy’s eyes widened. “Jesus. Since then?”

“A bit before that actually.” Ian laughed. “Kash caught us once and got angry and ended up shooting Mickey the next time he came into the store.”

Mandy shook her head. “Jesus. The man you were fucking got pissed off and shot the new guy you were fucking?”

Ian shook his head. “Well, we weren’t really together at the time. Me and Kash. Linda found out about us, remember?”

“So you found the next available guy to fuck?” Mandy asked with a smirk.

“Not exactly. But yeah.” Ian shook his head. “I was just as surprised as you were when it happened.”

“How exactly did it happen?”

Ian looked at her. “You’re not seriously asking for the gay sex talk are you? It’s bad enough I got Carl constantly asking me questions about where they gay wieners go. Not you too.”

Mandy laughed. “No. I meant…Mickey’s pretty open about his anti-fag agenda. Why the fuck did you decide to risk it? I mean, it’s Mickey. He’s not a catch.”

Ian shrugged. “It just sort of…happened. Neither one of us planned it. And then it sort of…kept happening.” He didn’t want to go into much more detail than that.

“Jesus. It’s like a gay soap opera right here on my fucking block.” Mandy laughed.

They lapsed into silence again, enjoying each other’s company and finishing their cigarette.

“He’s the reason you’re leaving?” Mandy asked staring at the street.

Ian nodded. “Yeah. I just, I can’t do this again.”

Mandy looked at him. “Do what?”

“Be another married guy’s fuck,” Ian admitted. _Not with Mickey._  “I just… I really thought he wasn’t going to go through with it.”

Mandy shrugged. “I mean, it’s Mickey. I don’t think he’ll ever come out, Ian.”

“I know,” Ian said. “I wasn’t expecting him to come out. I just—I can’t…I had just hoped that he’d care for me enough, just enough to not get married. Not now, not when there was so much unfinished between us.” Ian shook his head. “Jesus. Could I sound any more fucking dramatic.”

“You loved him,” Mandy said softly, surprised.

Ian closed his eyes and shrugged, her words hitting a little too close to home. “I think I could have.”

“Fuck.” Mandy looked back at the door. “And you’re really leaving?”

Ian nodded. “Yeah. I signed up for the Army. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“Shit. You’re not wasting any time, are you?”

“No. It’s four years minimum,” Ian told her.

“What’s your family think?” Mandy asked.

“They don’t know. I-I don’t want them to know until I’m gone,” Ian said. And Mandy knew him well enough to not push this one point; his family had always been a sore spot for him.

“I knew one day you’d leave me for the army,” Mandy said dramatically. “What kind of boyfriend does that to his girlfriend.”

“The kind who’s been fucking her brother while she’s been screwing his,” Ian said laughing.

Mandy joined him before standing and pulling Ian up beside her. “We’ve been down for too long. If tonight’s your last night, we’re going to do this right.”

Ian followed her down the steps before taking one last look at the Milkovich house where one member was still sitting where Ian had left him unbeknown to Ian.  “Promise me you’ll look out for yourself while I’m gone?”

“I always do,” Mandy told him reaching for his hand. 

“And just…don’t be too hard on Mickey,” Ian told her.

“He made his bed,” Mandy said with a shrug.

Ian only nodded and allowed her to tug him away from the house and the heartbreaks that lingered there. He would tell her the truth of what happened between Terry, Mickey, and him one day. But not today. Today had been heavy enough. And he still had to say goodbye to his best friend.


End file.
